The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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88 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BASKETBALL PREVIEW 2017-18 season, the most of the Pack's non-starting guards]." Moore also will be looking to Ealy to cre- ate off the dribble, using her speed to get to the basket and score or draw fouls as effec- tively as Spencer and Wilson. "She's worked hard on her shot and her range, and that's important since we are con- cerned about where our perimeter scoring is going to come from," he noted. Sophomore Lucky Rudd is the final return- ing veteran in the backcourt. Rudd averaged 10.0 minutes in 20 appearances last season, mainly due to the glut of veteran players ahead of her. "I know it was frustrating for her, but she didn't sit around this summer and pout," Hill said. "She's been shooting well in practice, boxing out and playing defense." Rudd also decided to switch numbers, from the 15 she wore last season to her old high school number (4) that had been Wil- liams numeral the past four years. "She said she's had the most success with that number, and I'm holding her to that," Hill said. Crutchfield is the lone true freshman back- court player recruited from the class of 2017. "She's been slowed by some minor injuries in preseason, so she's a little behind," Moore said. "And like most freshman she's strug- gling to make the transition from the speed of the game in high school to this level. "Hopefully, she can stay healthy and un- derstand how hard you have to play in the ACC." Three transfers could give the Pack some needed experience to add to their young backcourt quartet. Hawkins arrived last December after two years at Arizona State and should be eligible by the start of the ACC schedule. Both Hill and Moore feel Hawkins is a strong offen- sive threat with a consistent shot, but needs to work on fitting into the Pack's defensive scheme. Leslie, who averaged 4.0 points a game in 67 appearances over two years at Maryland, is at 6-0 the tallest guard on the roster and could possibly move back and forth between the three and four positions, depending on the Pack's personnel package. She is eligible to compete immediately for NC State after graduating early from Mary- land over the summer. "She's played in two Final Fours, has some leadership qualities and is very quick for her size," Hill said. "She just needs to slow down and be better reading defenses." Grace Hunter, the final guard on the roster, arrives after two years at Charlotte, where she led the 49ers in scoring (17.2 points per contest) and rebounding (8.5 boards per out- ing) last season. The 5-9 product of Raleigh's Athens Drive High School, Hunter has applied to the NCAA for a waiver of the one-year ineligi- bility rule due to a hardship situation and is awaiting a ruling. "She's a hard-playing, aggressive competi- tor who can score and rebound," Hill said. "If she is eligible, we can put some people on the floor that opponents will have a hard time matching up with. "She can create her own shot and attack the basket." A Challenging Schedule With all the unanswered questions facing the Pack entering this season, Moore admit- ted the schedule isn't going to offer his young squad an easy road. "Last year, we couldn't get people to play us because of four returning senior starters," he said. "I had no problem this year, though." NC State's 2017-18 slate includes 19 op- ponents with winning records from 2016-17, including 13 that won 20 or more games (led by ACC rival Notre Dame's 33-4 mark), and 17 teams that went to postseason tournaments (eight to the NCAA and nine to the WNIT, including 2017 WNIT runner-up Georgia Tech). Moore said he tried to schedule teams in the top 150 of the RPI this season, after learning that the Pack's 2016-17 opponents' somewhat low RPI average may have led to the Pack not being selected to host NCAA Tournament games, despite beating four top- 15 teams. "I think it's a good balance of Power Five conference teams and mid-majors," he said. "We've added home-and-home games this year and next with Georgetown, Old Domin- ion and Vanderbilt, and we play Alabama and South Dakota State, a top-50 RPI team last year, in our Thanksgiving tournament [the Puerto Rico Clasico has been moved to Fort Lauderdale due to the damage from Hurricane Irma]. "There are more questions than answers. It comes down to if we can get them to play hard enough, fast enough and tough enough to get the job done." ■ 2017-18 NC State Women's Basketball Schedule Date Opponent (TV) Time (ET) Nov. 2 Lee University! 7 p.m. Nov. 10 Jacksonville (ACCNE) 5 p.m. Nov. 12 Davidson (ACCNE) 2 p.m. Nov. 15 UNC Asheville (ACCNE) 7 p.m. Nov. 17 South Alabama 7 p.m. Nov. 20 at Old Dominion 7 p.m. Nov. 23 vs. Alabama^ 2:30 p.m. Nov. 24 vs. South Dakota State^ 2:30 p.m. Nov. 30 at Rutgers# (BTN) 6 p.m. Dec. 3 Tulane (ACCNE) 2 p.m. Dec. 10 Georgetown (ACCNE) 2 p.m. Dec. 14 East Tennessee State (ACCNE) 7 p.m. Dec. 16 Elon (ACCNE) 6 p.m. Dec. 19 at Vanderbilt (SECN) 6 p.m. Dec. 28 at Virginia Tech (ACCNE) 7 p.m. Dec. 31 Louisville (RSN) 2:30 p.m. Jan. 4 Virginia (ACCNE) 7 p.m. Jan. 7 at Duke (RSN) 3 p.m. Jan. 10 Georgia Tech (ACCNE) 7 p.m. Jan. 14 Syracuse (ACCNE) 2 p.m. Jan. 18 at North Carolina (ACCNE) 7 p.m. Jan. 25 at Wake Forest (RSN) 7 p.m. Jan. 28 at Clemson (ACCNE) 3 p.m. Feb. 1 Florida State (ACCNE) 7 p.m. Feb. 4 Boston College (ACCNE) 2 p.m. Feb. 8 at Miami (ACCNE) 7 p.m. Feb. 11 North Carolina (RSN) 3 p.m. Feb. 18 Wake Forest$ (ESPNU) 12 p.m. Feb. 22 at Pittsburgh (ACCNE) 7 p.m. Feb. 25 at Notre Dame (ESPN2) 2 p.m. Feb. 28-March 4 ACC Tournament& TBD ! Exhibition; ^ Fort Lauderdale Tournament at Fort Lauder- dale, Fla.; # Big Ten-ACC Challenge; * ACC game; $ 13th Annual Play4Kay Game; & at Greensboro, N.C.; ACCNE — ACC Network Extra; BTN — Big Ten Network; SECN — SEC Network; RSN — Regional Sports Network ■ Pack At A Glance Head Coach: Wes Moore 86-43 at NC State (fifth sea- son) and 644-212 overall (29th season) Assistants: Nikki West (fifth season), Gene Hill (fifth season) and Lindsay Edmonds (fifth season) 2016-17 Record: 23-9, 12-4 (T-4th) Home/Away/Neutral Record: 14-2/7-3/2-4 Postseason Results: Lost to No. 5 seed Louisville 59- 58 in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament; and defeated Auburn 62-48 in the first round of the in the NCAA Tournament before losing to Texas 84-80 in the second round Starters Lost: 4 (F Jennifer Mathurin, G Ashley Wil - liams, G Dominique Wilson and G Miah Spencer) Others Lost: 2 (G Camille Anderson and G Amber Richardson) Starters Returning: 1 (F Chelsea Nelson) Others Returning: 7 (G Aislinn Konig, G Kaila Ealy, G Lucky Rudd, F Erika Cassell, F DD Rogers, C Akela Maize and C Nae Nae Cole) Newcomers: 5 (G Grace Hunter, G Kai Crutchfield, G Kiara Leslie, G Armani Hawkins and C/F Kayla Jones) "You've got to have some toughness, some grit, and sometimes you just have to want it more than the other guy. That's what we have to find." ■ Moore